It is commonplace to have an open charcoal burner for the broiling of food. Over the years almost every household has such a burner in it's backyard. The smoke created by this type of burner by the grease falling on the charcoal and the fires created thereby necessarily restricts the use of such a burner to the backyard.
The use of an electric heating element in lieu of the charcoal has also been suggested. However, the grease falling on the hot heating element is no less a risk than that of the charcoal. Further, the flash fires and the excess heat created thereby either become uncontrollable or in most instances give off excessive heat to the meat far beyond that of the proper broiling temperature thus rendering the meat unpallatable.
To control the flame and ensuing smoke there has been used primarily in commercial broilers a pan of water beneath the grease pan so that the grease drippings will be quenched. While these units are splatter free and do reduce the chance of fire, they have not been feasable for domestic use.
Other types of burners also have been suggested to eliminate the grease burning and smoke. It has been suggested in the past that with the use of a low wattage electrical heating element and a pan partially filled with water, flash fires may be controlled. This has not been successful due to the long time to heat the element or presence of water vapor. One such system is that of using air circulators and blowers. Of course, such a system could not be used indoors without exhaust fans, as the smoke problem would be worsened.